Distant Firefly
by Parsley
Summary: Lucciola had always had a knack for reading people, but could not seem to figure out a certain boy whom his life revolved around.   Pre-Last Exile


Of the few skills he claimed to have, one was reading people. However, such an ability was irrelevant when your entire life revolved around someone who was completely unreadable. Likewise, Lucciola had neatly tucked away this trait. Admittedly, someone as spontaneous and complex as Dio was hard to read anyway, but sometimes his actions left an empty knot of confusion in Lucciola's stomach; the kind of thing that make him silently ponder why? Regardless, he continued to serve. His purpose was to serve.

"Lucciola, look!" Dio exclaimed brightly, laughing loudly and dancing around in the falling rose petals, something Maestro Delphine had inevitably ordered to happen. Lucciola's eyes crept towards the ceiling of the room, where the petals were falling from and did not respond to Dio, watching the younger boy. Dio seemed to notice Lucciola's lack of enthusiasm, and briefly hesitated. Before long, the boy's joy was slightly put off, wishing that his friend would join him.

Pursing his lips slightly, Dio ran over to Lucciola, grabbing him by the hand. "Come on! They're pretty, aren't they?" he insisted sharply, smiling widely. "-and they won't be here forever."

Lucciola nodded. "Yes, Lord Dio."

Satisfied, Dio let out a giddy laugh, looking up at the ceiling once more with curious interest. A sense of dread was suppressed in Lucciola's observant mind, but he did not dare say anything.

"Lucciola!"

He flashed his eyes towards Dio, giving him the utmost attention he deserved. "Why aren't you having fun? This is fun! Isn't it?" Dio grabbed both of his hands this time, and softly flopping his limp limbs around.

It was fun, but Lucciola was certain that his definition of fun had been shrouded and warped, despite being young himself. He wished that he could be as carefree as his exhuberent master at times, but such a thing would hardly be appropriate. He could only imagine the consequences, and the image of his brother's face, the mere look of disappointment and gritted failure, put him off permanently. Perseverance was the one thing that surged through his mind.

"This is fun," he responded softly.

Dio retorted, "Then smile. Show it on your face! Like this," Dio demonstrated by giving Lucciola an overwhelmingly huge smile mere inches from his face, causing him to blink in surprise.

Perseverance, perseverance. His expression remained stagnant.

The look of disappointment on Dio's face caused Lucciola's heart to cringe. He wondered what he had done to upset him. Fortunately, he sprung back into his normal self in a matter of seconds. "You're no fun," he yawned in exaggeration, raising and eyebrow at Lucciola.

"I'm sorry," was Lucciola's respectful response. Shrugging it off, Dio went back to the rose petals, this time gathering them in his hands and then excitedly throwing them in the air to shower himself with the crimson sea. His smile was more genuine than ever, and Lucciola observed that he really was having fun.

The look on his face did not fall when the layers of rose petals began to thin, signifying the rare moment's end. Instead, he began jumping to swipe as many as he could, not daring to pick the one's that had already fallen to the floor off the ground. It was like Dio to do something like that.

Once the stream of petals had grown too thin to hold Dio's interest, he smiled and showed Lucciola what he had gathered, a proud armful of roses - an image that would stay in Lucciola's mind for the rest of his life.

"They're pretty, aren't they?"

"Yes, Lord Dio."

He grabbed and handful of the rose petals, letting the vast majority of them fall slowly to the ground as he swiftly made his way to Lucciola. Eyeing him curiously, Lucciola did not move when Dio put all of the rose petals on his head, laughing hysterically. It felt strange, but he tried not to let them fall. Dio took a few steps back into the pile of his rose petals and keenly observed, "You're so pretty, Lucciola!"

Lucciola was glad that Dio seemed pleased, and could have said the same thing. Out of the clear blue sky, Dio leaned in and gave Lucciola a peck on the cheek, before exclaiming, "Come on!" and pulling him gently out of the room. Lucciola wondered if it was just something Dio had done, a fleeting moment of his enthusiasm and friendship. It was not the first time this has happened. After all, they were friends.

It was times like these when perseverance was not hard, as Lucciola knew that he was blessed to have such a confusing and passionate master. Blind to Dio's eyes, Lucciola's lips cracked into the smallest of smiles.


End file.
